In a Rose Garden statement President Obama announced that he secured the release of U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban prisoners who were held at Guantonomo Bay. The five prisoners prisoners were classified as being a 'high risk' by Guantanamo Bay Officials, to return to their former activities of fighting against U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and trying to overthrow the U.S. backed government.President Obama has come under criticism for agreeing to this exchange for a number of reasons. First of all President Obama signed a law stating that he must notify congress 30 days ahead of such an exchange. He failed to do this. He cites that he did talk to congress about it and that Bergdahl's health was in serious jeapordy so he needed to act fast. However in order to stay within the law he needed to notify congress at least 30 days before the release and there is no exception to that requirement. Judging from statements made by congressman since the release, Obama did not have their support for the exchange and to date there is no evidence that Bergdahl's health was in serious trouble. Secondly, all five of these men were top taliban commanders and are considered extremely dangerous and likely to return to the battlefield. Here is some informantion on released prisoners supplied by the Joint task force at Guantanamo Bay:Abdul Haq Wasiq: accused by Human Rights Watch of mass killings and torture. According to a report by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo, Wasiq “arranged for Al Qaeda personnel to train Taliban intelligence staff in intelligence methods.”Mullah Norullah Noori and Mullah Mohammad Fazi: are wanted by the United Nations for War Crimes, that include killing thousands of shiite muslims in Afghanistan.Mohammad Nabi Omari: Has held leadership roles in terrorist groups.Mullah Khairullah KhairkhwaKhairkhwa is the former governor of the Herat province and has close ties with Usama bin Laden and Mullah Omar.The third reason has to do with Bowe Bergdahl himself. The army has said that he walked off his post deliberately and there is evidence that he was developing a great dislike for the U.S. mission and even sympathizing. This is a quote from a Rolling Stone article where is father was interviewed saying that his son told him:

“I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of US soldier is just the lie of fools,” he concluded. “I am sorry for everything. The horror that is America is disgusting.”

When he e-mailed his father about his feelings his father told him to follow his concious and soon after he went missing.His fellow soldiers have called him a deserter and point out that six were killed attempting to find him. One soldier, interviewed yesterday on Fox News, said that it is possible he collaborated with the enemy because he said he wanted to speak to the Taliban shortly before he left and the Taliban attacks became more accurate after he left.The White House has said we don't know what happened and that there are conflicting accounts. But there are no conflicting accounts that anyone is aware of. All the accounts are calling him a deserter.

President Obama acted as if securing his release was a call for celebration and he and his spokes people have tried to down play the criticisms of Bergdahl, but eventually the army will have to investigate him and he faces a possible courtmarshall.